Ventriloquial doll



May 8, 1952 w. MITCHELL 3,032,922

VENTRILOQUIAL- DOLL Filed Sept. 20, 1960 3), U w/g/ 5f-I (L (7J/obl' @U22 @/wbz 2@ r5.5

United States Patent 3,032,922 VENTRILOQUIAL DOLL William Mitchell, 30E. 21st St., New York, N.Y. Filed Sept. 20, 1960, Ser. No. 57,300 1Claim. (Cl. 46-154) 'I'his invention relates to a commercially produceddoll adapted for use in ventriloquism.

Most dolls, commonly called dummies, used by ventriloquists areindividually produced and of artistic merit so that they have a uniquepersonality easily identified by the public.

Moreover, the doll manufacturing industry produces in quantity dollswhich are generally fully stuffed.

It is an objective of this invention to provide a mass produced dolladapted for ventriloquial use, especially by children.

It is a further objective to provide a doll having a resilient face anda cavitated head adapted for ventriloquial use, yet of inexpensivemanufacture and of relatively simple construction.

The doll of this invention may be of any desired animal form includingthat of human beings. Moreover, the outer garments or covering of thegarments may be of optional selection.

This invention is illustrated by an embodiment in the form of a monkeyhaving a fur body covering made of synthetic fur material, but clearlyit is not to be limited to this animal form nor to the synthetic furused in conjunction therewith.

This embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing inwhich:

FIG. l is a perspective view of the monkey,

FIG. 2 is an inside out view of the front of the monkeys head showingthe interior surface of a resilient plastic face and the manner ofsecuring the face to the other portions of the head,

FIG. 3 is a view of the segmented rear of the inside-out monkeys headand back, and showing the back portion of the monkeys head and themanner of securing it to the animal body portion,

FIG. 4 is a side view of the inside-out head,

FIG. 5 is a view of the side of the head of FIG. 4 showing the spacerelement partly sewn in place,

FIG. 6 is atop view of the animal head inside-out showing in section thespacer element secured in place and the chamber space between the spacerelement and the back of the animal head,

FIG. 7 is a vertical section view of the head and of the resilient faceshowing the manner of forming the cavity adapted to receive theoperators hand and showing a resilient face element having nger operableprojections thereon,

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the animal of FIG. 4 with the head bent forwardto show the inside of the hand receiving cavity, and

FIG. 9 is a View of the back of the head element superimposed upon thespacer element.

Turning now to the drawing, a doll 10 in the form of a stuied monkey andhaving stuffed moveable arms and legs, is provided with a face 11 ofresilient rubber or plastic. A pair of resilient ears 12 and hands 13are also provided to give the animal a life-like quality. The resilientrubber or plastic permits distortion of the face upon application offinger pressure to the interior surface thereof thereby creating aplurality of facial expressions. Release of the applied pressure on theinterior surface of the face permits the distorted face to rebound orreturn to its normal expression.

As shown in FIG. 2, the body and head of the doll are made byconventional sewing together on the back surface thereof, suitablesegments of synthetic fur.

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An important feature of this invention lies in the provision of acavitated head to a dolls body to permit manipulation of said resilientface 11.

To provide a cavitated head to the dolls body, the head is madepreferably of four elements, namely the face 11, the back of the head14, and the split element 15 forming the left side of the head and thesplit element 16 forming the right side of the head.

The body proper of the doll is of conventional construction and isprovided with a back element 17 having a suitably long slit 18 thereinto permit pushing out the insideout sewn construction so that the furside of the fabric is exposed to view. The doll is further provided witha conventional pair of front body elements 19 and 20 and arms Z1.

As shown in FIG. 3 the back of the head element 14 is substantially asemi-circular element. A semi-circular spacer element 22, preferably ofplain cloth, is provided with base line 23 roughly equal or`slightlylarger in length to base line 24 of the head element 14.

The side split elements 15 and 16, back head element 14 and face 11 aresewn together by conventional means to give the head shown in FIGS. 2 to4. The head is then sewn to the body of the animal as shown at the roundneck opening of the conventional body portion, leaving the base line 24unsewn.

According to this invention, the suitably large semicircular spacerelement 22 is sewn to the side to side medial line of the top of thehead along its semi-circular edge 25 only so that a suitable opening isprovided between base lines 23 and 24 to receive subsequently a stufing26. As shown in FIG. 6, the circular edge 25 is sewn in part to theslits 27 of the side elements 15 and 16, said side slits 27 thenreceiving said ears 12 which are lastly sewn in place therein.

The unstuffed doll with its head partly sewn thereon, the base line 23of the head being unsewn to the body portion and also unsewn to the baseline 24, is completely turned into the body cavity of the doll and acircular piece of cloth 28 is sewn into the throat area therebycompletely blocking of the body cavity from the head cavity. Next thehead and later the arms and the legs are pulled through slit 18 so thatall the sewn seams are disposed interiorly of the doll surface.

The doll is then stuffed with brous material 26 both in the body portionand in the head between elements 14 and 22. Thereafter slit 18 is sewnup and base line 23 is sewn to base line 24 and the doll is ready forthe ventriloquist.

To permit effective operation the dolls face, the face 11 is preferablyprovided with projecting ridges 29 above and below each of the eyes onthe interior surface thereof. These ridges preferably follow the contourof the eye or the eyebrow. Preferably also the mouth of the face 11 isprovided on its interior with a ridge 30 suitable for seizure between apair of lingers.

The provision of finger operable ridges 29 on the interior surface offace 11 either above or below the eyes, or on the cheeks of the interiorsurface or above and/or below the lips thereof is optional for clearlythe resilient face can be made to change its expressions by theapplication of ringer pressure on the interior surface itself of face 11as for example, behind the eyes. However the provision of one or moreridges on the interior face surface permits obtaining exquisite facialcontours and expression.

The ears 12 are also made of resilient plastic and as shown in FIGS. 4,5 and 7 the ears 12 are hollow to permit insertion of a nger of theventriloquist. However, the doll is operable with solid ears as well aswith hollow ears. Where hollow ears 12 are employed the ears are easilywiggled, thereby giving an added attraction to the doll.

The use of a pair of opposed hollow ears 12 results in the central orhead cavity communicating directly to the pair of cavities. The hollowears are sewn into the slit 27 around the periphery of the hollow earedge as shown in FIG. 7.

This invention is of generic scope in that it relates to dolls adaptedfor manual manipulation of a resilient face, the hand of the operatorbeing inserted into the dolls head from the rear thereto.

I claim:

A doll adapted for ventriloquial purposes comprising a resilient plasticface and a semi-circular spacer element for separating said face fromthe back of the dolls head to form a suitable hand receiving cavity,said doll having an aperture at the base of the back of the headcommunicating with said cavity, a pair of ridges disposed about eacheye, said ridges being adapted for finger manipulation whereby the eyeexpressions of the doll are selectively changed, said doll having anopen mouth formed by a V-shaped integral projection protruding into theinterior of said cavity and adapted to be seized between the fingers ofthe operator, a semi-circular back of the head element, a pair of sideelements each having medial slits therein disposed between said faceandrsaid back of the head element, said semi-circular spacer elementhaving a larger semi-circular circumference than that of the backelement with a substantially equal base line, said spacer elernenthaving a base line being sewn to the base line of the back of the headelement and the semi-circular edge of said spacer element being sewn inpart within the medial slit line of each of said side elements, and ahollow resilient ear sewn into the slit line of each of said sideelements, the cavity of each ear being in communication with the cavityof said head whereby a pair of opposed rfingers of an operator may beinserted into the opposed ears to eiect the selective manipulationthereof.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,028,068 Hamley May 28, 1912 1,274,328 Price July 30, 1918 2,756,448Werbe July 31, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,789 Great Britain 1911 546,111Germany v Mar. 10, 1932

